1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to data processing systems and in particular to the automatic entering of associated operator inputs into multiple related operator input fields in a data processing system. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to the automatic entering of associated operator inputs into multiple related operator input fields in response to a selection of a set of permitted combinations of associated operator inputs which are automatically determined within a data processing system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Graphical user interfaces are well known in the art. Users may select a particular activity for the data processing system to perform utilizing graphical input devices such as a keyboard, pointing stick, mouse, track ball, pen, or touch display screen. These particular activities, such as "print document" or "select a document" may be represented to the user in the form of input fields which are graphically displayed on the computer display screen and selected by the user by striking a particular key or series of keys on the keyboard, or by utilizing a graphical pointing device such as a mouse, by positioning the mouse pointer over an input field and clicking a mouse button.
Once an input field has been selected, a user may be prompted to enter appropriate information into the field in order to perform the function represented by the field. For example, a user may be prompted to enter a document name into the "print document" field in order to have the entered document printed by the data processing system. Modern data processing systems may also present to a user a suggested entry or list of entries for entry into the selected field. An example of such a system is an auto-install program that automatically installs an operating system or application program into a data processing system. Such auto-install programs present input fields to a user and suggest a possible entry. The user may select the suggested entry or may select an entry from a list of all possible entries. After a user has selected an entry for the input field presented, the auto-install program presents a second input field and suggests a possible entry for that input field. This process typically continues until each input field has been presented and filled utilizing either a suggested entry or an entry from a list of all possible entries for the presented field.
It should therefore be apparent that a need exits for a method and system for enhancing the efficiency of user inputs into multiple user input fields.